These creatures are wild animals, and when miners kept them as pets, they slept during the day, and hunted for vermin at night. In a typical household, ringtails would not make good pets, simply because there wouldn’t be enough for them to do. Ringtails did make good pets to miners, but that was because there were plenty of vermin for them to hunt.

Though humans commonly kept these creatures as pets, they never formally domesticated ringtails. The IUCN lists these animals as Least Concern. As with any animal, habitat destruction can be a problem, but their population is stable. Nowadays, it is illegal to own a ringtail as a pet without proper permits, though humans still acknowledge them as pest control. Because miners recognized their ability to catch mice and other pests, they often kept the creatures as pets. Humans and ringtails actually lived quite harmoniously. Their diet changes based upon the availability of food, for example, when mice are plentiful, they eat more mice. They also eat fruit, and some of their favorites include prickly pear, juniper, blackberries, hack, persimmon, and more. Some less common food sources include fish, snakes, birds, lizards, and carrion. Their primary prey includes mice, rats, rabbits, ground squirrels, insects, and other small mammals. Ringtails are omnivores, but most of their diet consists of animals rather than plants. They are widespread in Mexico, but their distribution in the northern ends of their range is rather spotty. Its range in Mexico is from the United States border south to Oaxaca. Populations live in southern Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, parts of Kansas, and Texas. Ringtails live in the Southwestern United States and across Mexico.

These mammals also live in pine, conifer, and juniper forests with low rainfall. In these ecosystems, they nest in abandoned structures, mineshafts, hollow trees, caves, and more. Rocky deserts are their favorite, but they also live in desert-like habitats near water sources. While these creatures live in a few different types of habitats, they live in arid environments most frequently. Because their tail is so long, it works very efficiently as a counterbalance. Ringtails use their tails to help them balance while climbing. While their tail is not prehensile, and they cannot use it to grip branches, it is still quite useful.

Striped Tail – This mammal’s long tail is not just for show.

Ringtails can even change direction on a branch by doing a cartwheel! Cat-Like Climbers – Ringtails may look a little like cats, but they sure can climb better than most housecats! They can rotate their ankles over 180º, which allows them to climb up and down trees easily.This musk confuses and deters many different predators. To avoid becoming lunch, ringtails excrete a strong-smelling musk when startled. Because of this, they commonly fall prey to many different predators. Musky Mouthful– Ringtails are usually smaller than the average housecat, and half of their length is tail alone.Apparently, the miners were quite fond of their ringtail companions because they were wonderfully efficient mouse catchers! During the 1800s, miners in Arizona and California commonly kept these creatures as pets. Miner’s Cat – One of the more unusual nicknames of the ringtail is the miner’s cat.There are a number of different fun facts about ringtails, read a few below! Ringtails are interesting looking creatures, with interesting behavior and traits. However, they are lean creatures, and typically weigh around 2 lbs. With body and tail combined, ringtails measure around 24 – 34 in.

Their tail is usually just as long as their body, between 12 and 17 in.

Ring tailed cat